"Joint Body" (U.S.)

** (out of four) Perfectly competent and totally unnecessary, unless the story of an ex-con (Mark Pellegrino of "Lost"), an Iraq war vet (Tom Guiry of "Mystic River") and a stripper with a heart of gold (Alicia Witt of "Friday Night Lights") sounds to you like the height of indie movie creativity. Five years ago Guiry teamed with writer-director Brian Jun for a more affecting, Illinois-set tale of blue-collar strife ("Steel City"). "Joint Body" plays like an acting exercise with the instruction, "Prove to people this material isn't average." No dice. See it: 3:40 p.m. Oct. 12; 6:30 p.m. Oct. 14; 9:15 p.m. Oct. 15

** (out of four) Perfectly competent and totally unnecessary, unless the story of an ex-con (Mark Pellegrino of "Lost"), an Iraq war vet (Tom Guiry of "Mystic River") and a stripper with a heart of gold (Alicia Witt of "Friday Night Lights") sounds to you like the height of indie movie creativity. Five years ago Guiry teamed with writer-director Brian Jun for a more affecting, Illinois-set tale of blue-collar strife ("Steel City"). "Joint Body" plays like an acting exercise with the instruction, "Prove to people this material isn't average." No dice. See it: 3:40 p.m. Oct. 12; 6:30 p.m. Oct. 14; 9:15 p.m. Oct. 15

** (out of four) Perfectly competent and totally unnecessary, unless the story of an ex-con (Mark Pellegrino of "Lost"), an Iraq war vet (Tom Guiry of "Mystic River") and a stripper with a heart of gold (Alicia Witt of "Friday Night Lights") sounds to you like the height of indie movie creativity. Five years ago Guiry teamed with writer-director Brian Jun for a more affecting, Illinois-set tale of blue-collar strife ("Steel City"). "Joint Body" plays like an acting exercise with the instruction, "Prove to people this material isn't average." No dice. See it: 3:40 p.m. Oct. 12; 6:30 p.m. Oct. 14; 9:15 p.m. Oct. 15